Initiative will work to attract immigrants with economic development in mind

Mayor John Cranley today announced the creation of a 78-person task force that will work toward making Cincinnati "the most immigrant-friendly city in the country."

The effort will work to bring more investment from highly-educated and well-to-do immigrants to the area. Few specifics were offered about how the initiative would address the hot topic of undocumented immigration.

“This is a country of immigrants, and this is a place where immigration is rewarded and thanked,” Cranley said during a news conference at Music Hall. “We’re all going to be richer and better by being a friendly city for immigrants.”

The task force, which is all-volunteer and uses no city money at this point, will research ways to attract and retain immigrants in the city. The group will be split into five committees focused on economic development, community resources, education/talent retention, international attractions and rights and safety. The task force will be led by co-chairs Raj Chundur and Tom Fernandez.

Cranley cited economic studies suggesting that immigration is good for economic growth. Economic experts and politicians are split on the wider point of whether welcoming more immigrants overall aids the economy, though some researchers believe even undocumented immigrants are a net positive. Either way, there is much evidence to suggest well-thought-out programs to attract documented immigrants can help cities. Dayton began working to attract immigrants in 2009, and has received national attention
for its program. Since the start of the program, more than 3,000
immigrants, mostly from Turkey, have moved to Dayton, helping to
revitalize the city's blighted North Dayton neighborhood.

He specifically discussed the EB5 visa program, which rewards immigrants who invest between $500,000 to $1 million in their communities with a special long-term visa and the opportunity for citizenship. He said that program has helped spur development in the city, especially along the Short Vine area in Corryville.

“I can tell you this means a lot to me personally, because I and my family are immigrants to this country,” said University of Cincinnati President Santa Ono, who will lead the task force’s education committee. Ono said his time at UC has shown him just how important attracting and retaining immigrants is for the city.

Cranley hedged some on revealing how undocumented immigrants would fit into the plan, saying that was work the task force will need to do as it prepares its recommendations.

“The whole point of the task force is to look at these issues in depth and come back with specific recommendations,” he said.

The mayor did share one effort to help children refugees in the country’s ongoing border crisis, though it is unrelated to the task force. Catholic Charities Southwest Ohio CEO Ted Bergh is a co-chair on the task force’s community resources committee. That nonprofit group and the Catholic Archdiocese in Cincinnati are working to help house in dormitories and hopefully find temporary foster homes (called "sponsors") for about 50 kids who have crossed the border into the United States due to turmoil in Mexico and Central America.The groups have applied for federal grants through the Department of Health and Human Services to fund the effort.

It’s Opening Day today, which means it’s time for a
citywide celebration of the Cincinnati Reds and baseball. At the City Council meeting
last week, Mayor Mark Mallory declared today a local holiday, so if you
need an excuse to sneak in a few beers while watching the parade at
work, say the mayor made you do it.

The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles will allow the children
of illegal immigrants who qualify for Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals (DACA) to obtain driver’s licenses.
DACA was signed by President Barack Obama to give recipients the
opportunity to remain in the country legally without fear of
prosecution, but until Friday, the BMV wasn’t sure that qualified
recipients for driver’s licenses.

Democratic mayoral candidate John Cranley proposed his budget plan
Thursday that he says will avoid layoffs and the city’s plan to lease
its parking assets to the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development
Authority, but critics say the plan is unworkable and some of its
revenue sources are “fantasy.” Cranley’s proposal calls for $21 million
in casino revenue that Horseshoe Casino General Manager Kevin Kline
previously said will be available to City Council, but Jon Harmon,
legislative director for Councilman Chris Seelbach, says the number is
using an outdated model and the city’s estimate of $10 million is more
in line with recent turn of events. The budget proposal also claims to
make its cuts and raise revenue without layoffs, but even Cranley was
uncertain about whether that’s possible.

Opponents of the city’s parking plan say they’ve gathered more than 10,000 signatures
— more than the 8,500 required — but the signatures still need to be
verified before the plan is placed on the ballot. Last week, the
mayor told Cincinnati residents
to not sign the petition because he says it will force the city to make
budget cuts and layoffs. A ruling from Hamilton County Judge Robert
Winkler opened the parking plan to referendum by essentially striking
down the city’s use of emergency clauses.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is backing a wider religious exemption
for contraceptive coverage in health plans. As part of Obamacare,
health insurance plans are required to provide contraceptive coverage — a
measure that may save insurance companies money by preventing expensive pregnancies,
according to some estimates. But DeWine and 12 other Republican state attorney generals argue the mandate infringes on religious liberty.

It’s not just charter schools that do poorly under the state’s new report card system; most urban schools would flunk too.
An analysis by StateImpact Ohio found urban schools actually perform
worse in some areas, supporting arguments from charter school advocates
that the report cards’ harsh grades show a demographic problem in urban areas, not a
lack of quality in education. An analysis of old data by CityBeat in 2012 found Cincinnati Public Schools would fall under the new system.

A new study found bedbugs are afflicting less Cincinnati residents
— suggesting the reversal of a trend that has haunted local homeowners
for years. In the past few years, Cincinnati was marked as one of the
worst cities for bedbugs around the country.

Decision comes after months of feedback, criticism

After months of deliberation, the Ohio Bureau of Motor
Vehicles decided today it will grant driver’s licenses to Deferred Action
for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, which means the children of illegal immigrants can now qualify for Ohio driver’s licenses.

DACA is an executive order signed by President Barack
Obama that allows the children of illegal immigrants to remain in the
United States legally. Immigration advocates argued the program
qualified DACA recipients for driver’s licenses, and the BMV apparently
agreed.

The decision was reached after months of review, which began shortly after CityBeat originally reported on the issue through the story of Ever Portillo (“Not Legal Enough,” issue of Feb. 6).

After a follow-up report confirmed the BMV was reviewing the issue, immigration advocates received a letter from Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine showing his support.
In the letter, DeWine wrote, “With these documents and any other documents
normally required by the BMV, an individual can provide the BMV with the
information necessary to receive a driver’s license.”

Shortly after CityBeat published the information on DeWine’s letter, the Ohio Department of Public Safety, which oversees the BMV, emailed CityBeat stating that DeWine’s stance will be taken under consideration.

Brian Hoffman, an attorney who has been heavily involved in the issue, praised the BMV’s decision in an email to CityBeat and
immigrant advocates. But he cautioned, “Given the earlier problems, it
is not clear how long it will take for all deputy registrars to be made
aware of this new guidance, or whether all of them are familiar with and
have access to the necessary USCIS (U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services) databases to comply with the extra
security steps Ohio is requiring.”

The city’s Youth Job Fair needs more employers
to reach the city’s goal of 100, says Mayor Mark Mallory. The fair offers young people a chance to seek out jobs. Employers can sign up for the free booths at www.mayormallory.com.

JobsOhio, the privatized, nonprofit development agency, met the deadline
on a subpoena issued by State Auditor Dave Yost to collect the agency’s
full financial records, which include public and private funds.
JobsOhio also said it will eventually pay back $1 million in public
funds. Gov. John Kasich and other Republicans argued only public
funds can be checked by the state auditor, but Yost says he’s allowed to seek a full audit. Kasich and the Republican-controlled
legislature approved JobsOhio in part to replace the Ohio Department of
Development, which can be fully audited.

In a letter to the Latino Affairs Commission, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine wrote that the children of illegal immigrants should be eligible for driver’s licenses
under President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
(DACA) initiative, which allows the children of illegal immigrants to
qualify for a social security number and work permit. DeWine’s letter is
not legally binding, but since it’s coming from the state’s top legal
adviser, it could put pressure on the Bureau of Motor Vehicles’ legal
team as it continues reviewing Ohio’s driver’s license policy.

Policy Matters Ohio, a left-leaning policy research group, is pushing an earned income tax credit (EITC)
that could act as a progressive replacement for Gov. John Kasich’s tax
plan. The tax credit benefits low- and middle-income people,
particularly those with kids. The Policy Matters report says the federal
EITC has been one of the most effective anti-poverty policies in the
United States.

A bill that will limit the referendum process was pushed through the Ohio House Policy and Oversight Committee,
despite warnings from members of the League of Women Voters and
Democrats that the bill might draw a constitutional challenge. The bill
would give petitioners 10 days to collect additional signatures if their
initial submission falls short. Under current law, members can
continuously collect signatures while the secretary of state and boards
of elections verify the initial batch. The Ohio Constitution gives
petitioners 10 days to file, not collect, additional signatures.

Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld unveiled his three-pronged strategy for reducing city blight. The plan would encourage the passage of a state law that would allow people to trespass abandoned properties to remediate them, focus demolition resources on hazardous buildings and expand the city’s vacant foreclosed property registry.

When The Huffington Post asked Ohio Sen. Rob
Portman if he wished it hadn't required a personal experience with gay
marriage to alter his position to favor marriage equality, he
responded, “Well, it did.”
He added, “I'm more of an economic policy wonk. That's always been my
background and focus: budget issues and economic growth issues. … That’s
just where I was.” Portman came out in support of same-sex marriage two
years after finding out his son is gay.

NASA's advice for a near-term meteor strike: “Pray.”
Due to a severe lack of funding, NASA does not have the proper
technology to detect all the small asteroids in orbit that could level cities. If a
deadly asteroid is detected, the current plan is to crash a spacecraft
on it to slow it down or alter its course.

The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles has been reviewing its
driver’s license policy for the children of illegal immigrants for nearly
two months now, but if it was up to Attorney General Mike DeWine, those
people would already be eligible for driver’s licenses.

In a letter to the Latino Affairs Commission dated to March 19,
DeWine wrote, “It appears that the BMV would have to accept driver’s
license applications from individuals that fall under the Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative because they can provide
all of the information necessary.”

DACA is an executive order signed by President Barack
Obama that allows the children of illegal immigrants to qualify for a
social security number and work permit. According to DeWine, that should
be enough to qualify for an Ohio driver’s license: “With these
documents and any other documents normally required by the BMV, an
individual can provide the BMV with the information necessary to receive
a driver’s license.”

The BMV has been reviewing its driver’s license policy for DACA recipients for nearly two months. A previous CityBeat report
found the BMV is granting driver’s licenses to some of the children of
illegal immigrants, but what qualifies a few and disqualifies others is
unclear.

DeWine’s letter is not legally binding, but since it’s
coming from the state’s top legal adviser, it could put
pressure on the BMV’s legal team as it continues reviewing the Ohio’s driver’s
license policy.

“I encourage any citizen who is concerned about a law or
policy to contact their legislators and voice that concern,” DeWine
wrote. “As Attorney General, I do not have the authority to introduce or
vote on legislation.”

CityBeat originally broke the story regarding the
BMV policy through the story of Ever Portillo, who was not able to receive a driver’s license despite being a DACA recipient (“Not Legal Enough,” issue of Feb. 6).

CityBeat later heard stories and received documents showing what seemed to be internal confusion and conflict about the policy at the BMV. Between January and February, there was a
noticeable shift in the BMV’s messaging from flat-out barring DACA
recipients from obtaining driver’s licenses to reviewing the entire
process — a change that might be attributable to the barrage of statewide media coverage on the issue after CityBeat's coverage.

In February, the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent,
from 7.9 percent in January, and the nation added 236,000 jobs. Many of
the new jobs — about 48,000 — came from construction, while government
employment saw a drop even before sequestration, a series of
across-the-board federal spending cuts, began on March 1. Economists seem quite positive
about the report.

In January, Ohio’s unemployment rate rose to 7 percent,
from 6.7 percent in December, with the number of unemployed in
the state rising to 399,000, from 385,000 the month before.
Goods-producing and service-providing industries and local government
saw a rise in employment, while jobs were lost in trade, transportation,
utilities, financial activities, professional and business services,
leisure and hospitality, state government and federal government. In
January, U.S. unemployment rose to 7.9 percent, from 7.8 percent in
December.

A new report outlined renovations for the city-owned Tower Place Mall, which is getting a makeover as part of Cincinnati’s parking plan.
A lot of the retail space in the mall will be replaced to make room for
parking that will be accessed through what is currently Pogue’s Garage,
but two rings of retail space will remain, according to the report. The
parking plan was approved by City Council Wednesday, but it was temporarily halted by a Hamilton County judge. The legal contest has now moved to federal court, and it’s set to get a hearing today.

Meet the mayoral candidates through CityBeat’s two extensive Q&As: Roxanne Qualls and John Cranley.
Qualls spoke mostly about her support for immigration, the parking plan
and streetcar, while Cranley discussed his opposition to the parking
plan and streetcar and some of his ideas for Cincinnati.

A Hamilton County court ruled against
the controversial traffic cameras in Elmwood Place, and the Ohio
legislature is considering a statewide ban on the cameras. In his
ruling, Judge Robert Ruehlman pointed out there were no signs making motorists
aware of the cameras and the cameras are calibrated once a year by a
for-profit operator. The judge added, “Elmwood Place is engaged in
nothing more than a high-tech game of 3-card Monty. … It is a scam that
motorists can’t win.” Bipartisan legislation was recently introduced to
prohibit traffic cameras in Ohio.

JobsOhio, the state-funded nonprofit corporation, quietly got $5.3 million in state grants,
even though the state legislature only appropriated $1 million for
startup costs. JobsOhio says it needed the extra funds because
legal challenges have held up liquor profits that were
originally supposed to provide funding. In the past few days, State
Auditor Dave Yost, a Republican, has been pushing
Republican Gov. John Kasich and JobsOhio to release more details about
the nonprofit corporation’s finances, but Kasich and JobsOhio have been
pushing back.

Advocates for Ohio’s charter schools say Kasich’s budget amounts to a per-pupil cut,
with funding dropping from $5,704 per pupil to $5,000 plus some
targeted assistance that ranges from hundreds of dollars to nothing
depending on the school. A previous CityBeat report on online schools
found traditional public schools get about $3,193 per student — much
less than the funding that apparently goes to charter schools.

Fountain Square will be getting a new television
from Cincinnati-based LSI Industries with the help of Fifth-Third Bank
and the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC). The new
video board will have better image quality and viewing angles, but it
will also come with more screen space for sponsors.

Ohio’s casino revenues rose in January. That could be a good sign for Cincinnati’s Horseshoe Casino, which opened Monday.

Two Ohio senators, including Senate Minority Leader Eric
Kearney of Cincinnati, are pushing a bill that will require the state’s
Bureau of Motor Vehicles to grant driver’s licenses
to the children of illegal immigrants. The senators claim state BMV
offices are inconsistently applying President Barack Obama’s Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows the children of
illegal immigrants to remain in the country without fear of prosecution, but the Ohio Department of Public Safety says the issue is still under
review. CityBeat originally broke the story after hearing of Ever Portillo’s experiences at a Columbus BMV office here, and a follow-up story covered the internal conflict at the BMV over the issue here.

Ohio officials have said the state has only put $1 million toward JobsOhio, but records recently acquired by The Columbus Dispatch show $5.3 million in funding has been directed to the program
so far, and the public investment could be as high as $9 million. State
officials said the funding is necessary because constitutional
challenges, which the Ohio Supreme Court recently agreed to take up,
have held up the program’s original source of funding — state liquor
profits. JobsOhio is a nonprofit company established with the support of
Gov. John Kasich that’s meant to attract investment and bring jobs to
the state. Kasich says he wants to replace the Ohio Department of Development with the nonprofit company in the future.

City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee approved a plan
to lease Cincinnati’s parking assets to the Port of Greater Cincinnati
Development Authority in a 4-3 vote yesterday, but the plan will require
five votes to become law in a final City Council vote tomorrow. The
plan, which CityBeat previously covered,
would lease the city’s parking assets to fund development
projects, including a 30-story tower and a downtown grocery store, and
help balance the deficit. The deal would produce a $92 million upfront
payment, and the city projects that additional annual installments would
generate more than $263 million throughout the lease’s duration.
Critics are worried the city will give up too much control of its
parking assets as part of the deal, and concerns about the city’s long-term
deficits remain. The alternatives — plans B, C and S — would fix
structural deficit problems, while the budget only helps balance the deficit for the next
two fiscal years.

The company that will operate Cincinnati’s parking meters if the parking deal is approved by City Council had problems in the past,
according to a tip received by multiple news outlets from Tabitha
Woodruff, an advocate at Ohio Public Interest Research Group. The issues
surfaced years before Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) was bought by
Xerox in 2010, and Xerox now denies any wrongdoing. One of the issues is
a 2007 audit, which found ACS mismanaged parking meters in Washington,
D.C. Kevin Lightfoot, a spokesperson at Xerox, says the audit was based
on “faulty information,” and a lot of the problems found were because
the auditor improperly read parking meter screen displays.

An approved commitment by the Hamilton County Transportation Improvement District (HCTID) may ensure a rail service is ready for Cincinnati
in time for the 2015 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Hamilton
County Commissioner Todd Portune is pushing for local and state
governments to break down any barriers for Oasis Rail Transit, which
will carry passengers from Downtown to Milford.

The Ohio Board of Education will decide
between two candidates for state superintendent next week: acting
Superintendent of Public Instruction Michael Sawyers or Dick Ross, Gov.
John Kasich’s top education adviser.

After years of development and anticipation, Cincinnati’s Horseshoe Casino opened yesterday. The casino comes with the promise of jobs and economic development, but it also poses the risk of crime, bankruptcy and even suicide.
State and local legislators are also looking forward to extra
government revenue from the casino, even though casino revenue around
the state has fallen short of projections.
For Over-the-Rhine residents, the grand opening, which culminated in a
fireworks display, was sort of like being in the middle of a
thunderstorm.

BMV reviewing driver's license rules for DACA recipients

Ohio’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) is granting driver’s
licenses to some of the children of illegal immigrants, but what qualifies a few and
disqualifies others is so far unknown.

When CityBeat last covered the BMV policy (“Not Legal Enough,”
issue of Feb. 6), Ever Portillo, a 22-year-old from El Salvador, was
unable to get his license even when he was accompanied by his attorney
at the West Broad Street BMV office in Columbus. Since then, Portillo
returned to the same BMV office with his attorney, a community leader from
DreamActivist Ohio and a reporter from The Columbus Dispatch and successfully obtained his license.

At the same time, CityBeat received a tip from an
anonymous illegal immigrant after she could not get a driver’s license for her son
because, according to what she heard from the BMV, state policy is still
being reviewed.

The differences between Portillo and the woman’s
experiences are reflected by what seems to be an internal conflict at the
BMV, which CityBeat found in a series of internal documents sent by Brian
Hoffman, Portillo’s attorney. In emails dating back to January, state
officials wrote that “foreign nationals” with C33 Employment
Authorization Documents (EAD) and I-797 documents with case types I-765D
and I-821D cannot qualify for driver’s licenses. The documents are part of President Barack Obama’s
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which allows the children of illegal immigrants to remain in the United States without fear of prosecution.

But a Feb. 13 memo from the BMV says Ohio has not issued a
statewide policy on DACA for driver’s licenses and is currently
reviewing the process. A Feb. 19 email echoes the memo, stating “neither
the Department (of Public Safety) nor the BMV has yet issued a
statewide broadcast to provide direction regarding the DACA issue.” In a
Feb. 21 email, Lindsey Borher, spokesperson at the BMV, told CityBeat, “Our legal department is in the process of reviewing guidance from the federal government as it applies to Ohio law.”

The discrepancy between January and February may be attributable to CityBeat
originally breaking the story on the state policy, which was followed
by a barrage of statewide media coverage on the issue.

Local state senator proposes bill to limit payments to illegal immigrants

An Ohio policy research group is taking offense to a local
state senator’s “anti-immigrant bill.” If passed, S.B. 323, proposed in
April by Ohio Sen. Bill Seitz, would require workers to prove their
legal status to work before receiving workers’ compensation, but
Innovation Ohio says the bill reaches too far to solve a problem that
might not even exist.

The bill was the topic of discussion at a Senate
Insurance, Commerce and Labor Committee hearing on Nov. 27. At the
hearing, supporters argued the bill would stop compensating illegal
workers who aren’t supposed to be in Ohio to begin with. But opponents
argue that the details in the bill add too many extra problems.

In fact, the bill might be going after a problem that
doesn’t even exist. At an earlier hearing, Seitz, a Republican, said the state does not
collect data on the immigration status of workers receiving
compensation. To Brian Hoffman of Innovation Ohio, this means there’s no
way to know if the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) has ever
compensated a single undocumented worker. “It just seems curious that
this bill is being introduced and has gotten three hearings when there’s
no proof that it’s actually even an issue,” he says.

Hoffman is also worried that the bill is imposing a new
regulatory burden on BWC without providing additional funds. In his
view, the state agency is essentially being told to do more without
additional resources to prepare or train regulators. Considering how
complicated the immigration issue can get, this makes Hoffman doubt the
agency will be able to properly carry out the new regulations.

From a broader perspective, the bill imposes regulatory hurdles on all injured workers just so they can get compensation they're entitled to under state law. “Talk about kicking someone when they’re down,” Hoffman says.

But the burden could hit Hispanics even harder and lead to
more discrimination in the workplace. After all, when employers are
clearing legal statuses, who are they more likely to question, someone with a
name like “Dexter Morgan” or someone with a name like “Angel Batista”?

In Hoffman’s view, the state should leave immigration
issues to the federal government and worry about more pressing issues:
“Why is the state legislature even wasting its time on the issue? There
are plenty of really good ideas to bring jobs back to Ohio. Why aren’t
they focused on those?”

The bill is still in committee, but it’s been the subject
of multiple hearings. It’s unlikely the Ohio Senate will take it up in
what’s left of the lame-duck session, but it could come back in the next
year.

CityBeat was unable to reach Seitz for comment
despite repeated attempts through phone and email, in addition to a scheduled
interview that was canceled. This story will be updated if comment becomes available.

The Kentucky Speedway and state of Kentucky will find out
soon whether the $10 million they spent on highway infrastructure
improvements in response to last year’s traffic mess at a NASCAR race
was worth it. The Speedway and Kentucky Transportation Cabinet will hold
a news conference today to outline plans to actually get all of the
race attendees into the venue to watch the race rather than sit in
traffic all day and get super mad.

A Cincinnati police officer with a long record of wrecking
police vehicles was arrested on Monday and charged with assaulting a
woman who he’s already been charged with assaulting once before. The
Enquirer detailed the disciplinary history of officer Kevin Jones, who was also charged with two counts of assault from an incident that occurred May 19.

Politico says President Obama’s recent announcement of a
new immigration policy that allows many young immigrants who have never
been in trouble with the law to stay in the country, and even travel
across its borders, was a really smart move. The policy is not permanent, which leaves Mitt
Romney to answer the question of whether or not he would repeal it if
elected. The idea is reportedly similar to legislation that Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a potential Romney running mate, has been considering introducing.

“This is a stroke of political genius,” Bruce Morrison
told me. A former Democratic congressman from Connecticut, Morrison was
chairman of the House Immigration Subcommittee, a member of the U.S.
Commission on Immigration Reform and House author of the Immigration Act
of 1990. He’s now an immigration attorney and lobbies on a wide variety
of immigration issues.

“Obama has taken Rubio’s idea and put it into action,”
Morrison said. “He has given these people a work permit, the ability to
remain in this country, but no permanent status.” Their legal status can
be terminated at any time. “But it won’t be terminated by Obama,”
Morrison said.

A breast cancer survivor who has undergone a double
mastectomy has been allowed to swim topless by the Seattle Department of
Parks and Recreation after stating that wearing a bathing suit over her
chest causes pain.

(Jodi) Jaecks opted against reconstructive surgery. "I don't see a need to fake having breasts," she said.

"My ultimate goal is to change policy at beaches and
pools, to increase people's awareness of cancer and the realities of the
human condition," Jaecks told Reuters.

LeBron James and the Miami Heat won the NBA title last
night, completing a 4 games to 1 series victory over the Oklahoma
Thunder. It is the first title for James, who has been widely mocked for
stating that he’d like to win more titles than Michael Jordan’s six.
James, who is 27, won his first a year younger than Jordan did, thought Jordan then won the title in six of eight years.

Two alien plants planets around the same star apparently rise in
the night sky of each other, looking like a giant full moon. The
planets, Kepler-36b and Kepler-36c, are 1,200 light-years from Earth and 1.2 million miles apart, the closes two planets known.

Initiative will work to attract immigrants with economic development in mind

Mayor John Cranley today announced the creation of a 78-person task force that will work toward making Cincinnati "the most immigrant-friendly city in the country."

The effort will work to bring more investment from highly-educated and well-to-do immigrants to the area. Few specifics were offered about how the initiative would address the hot topic of undocumented immigration.

“This is a country of immigrants, and this is a place where immigration is rewarded and thanked,” Cranley said during a news conference at Music Hall. “We’re all going to be richer and better by being a friendly city for immigrants.”

The task force, which is all-volunteer and uses no city money at this point, will research ways to attract and retain immigrants in the city. The group will be split into five committees focused on economic development, community resources, education/talent retention, international attractions and rights and safety. The task force will be led by co-chairs Raj Chundur and Tom Fernandez.

Cranley cited economic studies suggesting that immigration is good for economic growth. Economic experts and politicians are split on the wider point of whether welcoming more immigrants overall aids the economy, though some researchers believe even undocumented immigrants are a net positive. Either way, there is much evidence to suggest well-thought-out programs to attract documented immigrants can help cities. Dayton began working to attract immigrants in 2009, and has received national attention
for its program. Since the start of the program, more than 3,000
immigrants, mostly from Turkey, have moved to Dayton, helping to
revitalize the city's blighted North Dayton neighborhood.

He specifically discussed the EB5 visa program, which rewards immigrants who invest between $500,000 to $1 million in their communities with a special long-term visa and the opportunity for citizenship. He said that program has helped spur development in the city, especially along the Short Vine area in Corryville.

“I can tell you this means a lot to me personally, because I and my family are immigrants to this country,” said University of Cincinnati President Santa Ono, who will lead the task force’s education committee. Ono said his time at UC has shown him just how important attracting and retaining immigrants is for the city.

Cranley hedged some on revealing how undocumented immigrants would fit into the plan, saying that was work the task force will need to do as it prepares its recommendations.

“The whole point of the task force is to look at these issues in depth and come back with specific recommendations,” he said.

The mayor did share one effort to help children refugees in the country’s ongoing border crisis, though it is unrelated to the task force. Catholic Charities Southwest Ohio CEO Ted Bergh is a co-chair on the task force’s community resources committee. That nonprofit group and the Catholic Archdiocese in Cincinnati are working to help house in dormitories and hopefully find temporary foster homes (called "sponsors") for about 50 kids who have crossed the border into the United States due to turmoil in Mexico and Central America.The groups have applied for federal grants through the Department of Health and Human Services to fund the effort.

It’s Opening Day today, which means it’s time for a
citywide celebration of the Cincinnati Reds and baseball. At the City Council meeting
last week, Mayor Mark Mallory declared today a local holiday, so if you
need an excuse to sneak in a few beers while watching the parade at
work, say the mayor made you do it.

The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles will allow the children
of illegal immigrants who qualify for Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals (DACA) to obtain driver’s licenses.
DACA was signed by President Barack Obama to give recipients the
opportunity to remain in the country legally without fear of
prosecution, but until Friday, the BMV wasn’t sure that qualified
recipients for driver’s licenses.

Democratic mayoral candidate John Cranley proposed his budget plan
Thursday that he says will avoid layoffs and the city’s plan to lease
its parking assets to the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development
Authority, but critics say the plan is unworkable and some of its
revenue sources are “fantasy.” Cranley’s proposal calls for $21 million
in casino revenue that Horseshoe Casino General Manager Kevin Kline
previously said will be available to City Council, but Jon Harmon,
legislative director for Councilman Chris Seelbach, says the number is
using an outdated model and the city’s estimate of $10 million is more
in line with recent turn of events. The budget proposal also claims to
make its cuts and raise revenue without layoffs, but even Cranley was
uncertain about whether that’s possible.

Opponents of the city’s parking plan say they’ve gathered more than 10,000 signatures
— more than the 8,500 required — but the signatures still need to be
verified before the plan is placed on the ballot. Last week, the
mayor told Cincinnati residents
to not sign the petition because he says it will force the city to make
budget cuts and layoffs. A ruling from Hamilton County Judge Robert
Winkler opened the parking plan to referendum by essentially striking
down the city’s use of emergency clauses.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is backing a wider religious exemption
for contraceptive coverage in health plans. As part of Obamacare,
health insurance plans are required to provide contraceptive coverage — a
measure that may save insurance companies money by preventing expensive pregnancies,
according to some estimates. But DeWine and 12 other Republican state attorney generals argue the mandate infringes on religious liberty.

It’s not just charter schools that do poorly under the state’s new report card system; most urban schools would flunk too.
An analysis by StateImpact Ohio found urban schools actually perform
worse in some areas, supporting arguments from charter school advocates
that the report cards’ harsh grades show a demographic problem in urban areas, not a
lack of quality in education. An analysis of old data by CityBeat in 2012 found Cincinnati Public Schools would fall under the new system.

A new study found bedbugs are afflicting less Cincinnati residents
— suggesting the reversal of a trend that has haunted local homeowners
for years. In the past few years, Cincinnati was marked as one of the
worst cities for bedbugs around the country.

Decision comes after months of feedback, criticism

After months of deliberation, the Ohio Bureau of Motor
Vehicles decided today it will grant driver’s licenses to Deferred Action
for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, which means the children of illegal immigrants can now qualify for Ohio driver’s licenses.

DACA is an executive order signed by President Barack
Obama that allows the children of illegal immigrants to remain in the
United States legally. Immigration advocates argued the program
qualified DACA recipients for driver’s licenses, and the BMV apparently
agreed.

The decision was reached after months of review, which began shortly after CityBeat originally reported on the issue through the story of Ever Portillo (“Not Legal Enough,” issue of Feb. 6).

After a follow-up report confirmed the BMV was reviewing the issue, immigration advocates received a letter from Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine showing his support.
In the letter, DeWine wrote, “With these documents and any other documents
normally required by the BMV, an individual can provide the BMV with the
information necessary to receive a driver’s license.”

Shortly after CityBeat published the information on DeWine’s letter, the Ohio Department of Public Safety, which oversees the BMV, emailed CityBeat stating that DeWine’s stance will be taken under consideration.

Brian Hoffman, an attorney who has been heavily involved in the issue, praised the BMV’s decision in an email to CityBeat and
immigrant advocates. But he cautioned, “Given the earlier problems, it
is not clear how long it will take for all deputy registrars to be made
aware of this new guidance, or whether all of them are familiar with and
have access to the necessary USCIS (U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services) databases to comply with the extra
security steps Ohio is requiring.”

The city’s Youth Job Fair needs more employers
to reach the city’s goal of 100, says Mayor Mark Mallory. The fair offers young people a chance to seek out jobs. Employers can sign up for the free booths at www.mayormallory.com.

JobsOhio, the privatized, nonprofit development agency, met the deadline
on a subpoena issued by State Auditor Dave Yost to collect the agency’s
full financial records, which include public and private funds.
JobsOhio also said it will eventually pay back $1 million in public
funds. Gov. John Kasich and other Republicans argued only public
funds can be checked by the state auditor, but Yost says he’s allowed to seek a full audit. Kasich and the Republican-controlled
legislature approved JobsOhio in part to replace the Ohio Department of
Development, which can be fully audited.

In a letter to the Latino Affairs Commission, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine wrote that the children of illegal immigrants should be eligible for driver’s licenses
under President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
(DACA) initiative, which allows the children of illegal immigrants to
qualify for a social security number and work permit. DeWine’s letter is
not legally binding, but since it’s coming from the state’s top legal
adviser, it could put pressure on the Bureau of Motor Vehicles’ legal
team as it continues reviewing Ohio’s driver’s license policy.

Policy Matters Ohio, a left-leaning policy research group, is pushing an earned income tax credit (EITC)
that could act as a progressive replacement for Gov. John Kasich’s tax
plan. The tax credit benefits low- and middle-income people,
particularly those with kids. The Policy Matters report says the federal
EITC has been one of the most effective anti-poverty policies in the
United States.

A bill that will limit the referendum process was pushed through the Ohio House Policy and Oversight Committee,
despite warnings from members of the League of Women Voters and
Democrats that the bill might draw a constitutional challenge. The bill
would give petitioners 10 days to collect additional signatures if their
initial submission falls short. Under current law, members can
continuously collect signatures while the secretary of state and boards
of elections verify the initial batch. The Ohio Constitution gives
petitioners 10 days to file, not collect, additional signatures.

Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld unveiled his three-pronged strategy for reducing city blight. The plan would encourage the passage of a state law that would allow people to trespass abandoned properties to remediate them, focus demolition resources on hazardous buildings and expand the city’s vacant foreclosed property registry.

When The Huffington Post asked Ohio Sen. Rob
Portman if he wished it hadn't required a personal experience with gay
marriage to alter his position to favor marriage equality, he
responded, “Well, it did.”
He added, “I'm more of an economic policy wonk. That's always been my
background and focus: budget issues and economic growth issues. … That’s
just where I was.” Portman came out in support of same-sex marriage two
years after finding out his son is gay.

NASA's advice for a near-term meteor strike: “Pray.”
Due to a severe lack of funding, NASA does not have the proper
technology to detect all the small asteroids in orbit that could level cities. If a
deadly asteroid is detected, the current plan is to crash a spacecraft
on it to slow it down or alter its course.

The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles has been reviewing its
driver’s license policy for the children of illegal immigrants for nearly
two months now, but if it was up to Attorney General Mike DeWine, those
people would already be eligible for driver’s licenses.

In a letter to the Latino Affairs Commission dated to March 19,
DeWine wrote, “It appears that the BMV would have to accept driver’s
license applications from individuals that fall under the Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative because they can provide
all of the information necessary.”

DACA is an executive order signed by President Barack
Obama that allows the children of illegal immigrants to qualify for a
social security number and work permit. According to DeWine, that should
be enough to qualify for an Ohio driver’s license: “With these
documents and any other documents normally required by the BMV, an
individual can provide the BMV with the information necessary to receive
a driver’s license.”

The BMV has been reviewing its driver’s license policy for DACA recipients for nearly two months. A previous CityBeat report
found the BMV is granting driver’s licenses to some of the children of
illegal immigrants, but what qualifies a few and disqualifies others is
unclear.

DeWine’s letter is not legally binding, but since it’s
coming from the state’s top legal adviser, it could put
pressure on the BMV’s legal team as it continues reviewing the Ohio’s driver’s
license policy.

“I encourage any citizen who is concerned about a law or
policy to contact their legislators and voice that concern,” DeWine
wrote. “As Attorney General, I do not have the authority to introduce or
vote on legislation.”

CityBeat originally broke the story regarding the
BMV policy through the story of Ever Portillo, who was not able to receive a driver’s license despite being a DACA recipient (“Not Legal Enough,” issue of Feb. 6).

CityBeat later heard stories and received documents showing what seemed to be internal confusion and conflict about the policy at the BMV. Between January and February, there was a
noticeable shift in the BMV’s messaging from flat-out barring DACA
recipients from obtaining driver’s licenses to reviewing the entire
process — a change that might be attributable to the barrage of statewide media coverage on the issue after CityBeat's coverage.

In February, the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent,
from 7.9 percent in January, and the nation added 236,000 jobs. Many of
the new jobs — about 48,000 — came from construction, while government
employment saw a drop even before sequestration, a series of
across-the-board federal spending cuts, began on March 1. Economists seem quite positive
about the report.

In January, Ohio’s unemployment rate rose to 7 percent,
from 6.7 percent in December, with the number of unemployed in
the state rising to 399,000, from 385,000 the month before.
Goods-producing and service-providing industries and local government
saw a rise in employment, while jobs were lost in trade, transportation,
utilities, financial activities, professional and business services,
leisure and hospitality, state government and federal government. In
January, U.S. unemployment rose to 7.9 percent, from 7.8 percent in
December.

A new report outlined renovations for the city-owned Tower Place Mall, which is getting a makeover as part of Cincinnati’s parking plan.
A lot of the retail space in the mall will be replaced to make room for
parking that will be accessed through what is currently Pogue’s Garage,
but two rings of retail space will remain, according to the report. The
parking plan was approved by City Council Wednesday, but it was temporarily halted by a Hamilton County judge. The legal contest has now moved to federal court, and it’s set to get a hearing today.

Meet the mayoral candidates through CityBeat’s two extensive Q&As: Roxanne Qualls and John Cranley.
Qualls spoke mostly about her support for immigration, the parking plan
and streetcar, while Cranley discussed his opposition to the parking
plan and streetcar and some of his ideas for Cincinnati.

A Hamilton County court ruled against
the controversial traffic cameras in Elmwood Place, and the Ohio
legislature is considering a statewide ban on the cameras. In his
ruling, Judge Robert Ruehlman pointed out there were no signs making motorists
aware of the cameras and the cameras are calibrated once a year by a
for-profit operator. The judge added, “Elmwood Place is engaged in
nothing more than a high-tech game of 3-card Monty. … It is a scam that
motorists can’t win.” Bipartisan legislation was recently introduced to
prohibit traffic cameras in Ohio.

JobsOhio, the state-funded nonprofit corporation, quietly got $5.3 million in state grants,
even though the state legislature only appropriated $1 million for
startup costs. JobsOhio says it needed the extra funds because
legal challenges have held up liquor profits that were
originally supposed to provide funding. In the past few days, State
Auditor Dave Yost, a Republican, has been pushing
Republican Gov. John Kasich and JobsOhio to release more details about
the nonprofit corporation’s finances, but Kasich and JobsOhio have been
pushing back.

Advocates for Ohio’s charter schools say Kasich’s budget amounts to a per-pupil cut,
with funding dropping from $5,704 per pupil to $5,000 plus some
targeted assistance that ranges from hundreds of dollars to nothing
depending on the school. A previous CityBeat report on online schools
found traditional public schools get about $3,193 per student — much
less than the funding that apparently goes to charter schools.

Fountain Square will be getting a new television
from Cincinnati-based LSI Industries with the help of Fifth-Third Bank
and the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC). The new
video board will have better image quality and viewing angles, but it
will also come with more screen space for sponsors.

Ohio’s casino revenues rose in January. That could be a good sign for Cincinnati’s Horseshoe Casino, which opened Monday.

Two Ohio senators, including Senate Minority Leader Eric
Kearney of Cincinnati, are pushing a bill that will require the state’s
Bureau of Motor Vehicles to grant driver’s licenses
to the children of illegal immigrants. The senators claim state BMV
offices are inconsistently applying President Barack Obama’s Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows the children of
illegal immigrants to remain in the country without fear of prosecution, but the Ohio Department of Public Safety says the issue is still under
review. CityBeat originally broke the story after hearing of Ever Portillo’s experiences at a Columbus BMV office here, and a follow-up story covered the internal conflict at the BMV over the issue here.

Ohio officials have said the state has only put $1 million toward JobsOhio, but records recently acquired by The Columbus Dispatch show $5.3 million in funding has been directed to the program
so far, and the public investment could be as high as $9 million. State
officials said the funding is necessary because constitutional
challenges, which the Ohio Supreme Court recently agreed to take up,
have held up the program’s original source of funding — state liquor
profits. JobsOhio is a nonprofit company established with the support of
Gov. John Kasich that’s meant to attract investment and bring jobs to
the state. Kasich says he wants to replace the Ohio Department of Development with the nonprofit company in the future.

City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee approved a plan
to lease Cincinnati’s parking assets to the Port of Greater Cincinnati
Development Authority in a 4-3 vote yesterday, but the plan will require
five votes to become law in a final City Council vote tomorrow. The
plan, which CityBeat previously covered,
would lease the city’s parking assets to fund development
projects, including a 30-story tower and a downtown grocery store, and
help balance the deficit. The deal would produce a $92 million upfront
payment, and the city projects that additional annual installments would
generate more than $263 million throughout the lease’s duration.
Critics are worried the city will give up too much control of its
parking assets as part of the deal, and concerns about the city’s long-term
deficits remain. The alternatives — plans B, C and S — would fix
structural deficit problems, while the budget only helps balance the deficit for the next
two fiscal years.

The company that will operate Cincinnati’s parking meters if the parking deal is approved by City Council had problems in the past,
according to a tip received by multiple news outlets from Tabitha
Woodruff, an advocate at Ohio Public Interest Research Group. The issues
surfaced years before Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) was bought by
Xerox in 2010, and Xerox now denies any wrongdoing. One of the issues is
a 2007 audit, which found ACS mismanaged parking meters in Washington,
D.C. Kevin Lightfoot, a spokesperson at Xerox, says the audit was based
on “faulty information,” and a lot of the problems found were because
the auditor improperly read parking meter screen displays.

An approved commitment by the Hamilton County Transportation Improvement District (HCTID) may ensure a rail service is ready for Cincinnati
in time for the 2015 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Hamilton
County Commissioner Todd Portune is pushing for local and state
governments to break down any barriers for Oasis Rail Transit, which
will carry passengers from Downtown to Milford.

The Ohio Board of Education will decide
between two candidates for state superintendent next week: acting
Superintendent of Public Instruction Michael Sawyers or Dick Ross, Gov.
John Kasich’s top education adviser.

After years of development and anticipation, Cincinnati’s Horseshoe Casino opened yesterday. The casino comes with the promise of jobs and economic development, but it also poses the risk of crime, bankruptcy and even suicide.
State and local legislators are also looking forward to extra
government revenue from the casino, even though casino revenue around
the state has fallen short of projections.
For Over-the-Rhine residents, the grand opening, which culminated in a
fireworks display, was sort of like being in the middle of a
thunderstorm.

BMV reviewing driver's license rules for DACA recipients

Ohio’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) is granting driver’s
licenses to some of the children of illegal immigrants, but what qualifies a few and
disqualifies others is so far unknown.

When CityBeat last covered the BMV policy (“Not Legal Enough,”
issue of Feb. 6), Ever Portillo, a 22-year-old from El Salvador, was
unable to get his license even when he was accompanied by his attorney
at the West Broad Street BMV office in Columbus. Since then, Portillo
returned to the same BMV office with his attorney, a community leader from
DreamActivist Ohio and a reporter from The Columbus Dispatch and successfully obtained his license.

At the same time, CityBeat received a tip from an
anonymous illegal immigrant after she could not get a driver’s license for her son
because, according to what she heard from the BMV, state policy is still
being reviewed.

The differences between Portillo and the woman’s
experiences are reflected by what seems to be an internal conflict at the
BMV, which CityBeat found in a series of internal documents sent by Brian
Hoffman, Portillo’s attorney. In emails dating back to January, state
officials wrote that “foreign nationals” with C33 Employment
Authorization Documents (EAD) and I-797 documents with case types I-765D
and I-821D cannot qualify for driver’s licenses. The documents are part of President Barack Obama’s
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which allows the children of illegal immigrants to remain in the United States without fear of prosecution.

But a Feb. 13 memo from the BMV says Ohio has not issued a
statewide policy on DACA for driver’s licenses and is currently
reviewing the process. A Feb. 19 email echoes the memo, stating “neither
the Department (of Public Safety) nor the BMV has yet issued a
statewide broadcast to provide direction regarding the DACA issue.” In a
Feb. 21 email, Lindsey Borher, spokesperson at the BMV, told CityBeat, “Our legal department is in the process of reviewing guidance from the federal government as it applies to Ohio law.”

The discrepancy between January and February may be attributable to CityBeat
originally breaking the story on the state policy, which was followed
by a barrage of statewide media coverage on the issue.

Local state senator proposes bill to limit payments to illegal immigrants

An Ohio policy research group is taking offense to a local
state senator’s “anti-immigrant bill.” If passed, S.B. 323, proposed in
April by Ohio Sen. Bill Seitz, would require workers to prove their
legal status to work before receiving workers’ compensation, but
Innovation Ohio says the bill reaches too far to solve a problem that
might not even exist.

The bill was the topic of discussion at a Senate
Insurance, Commerce and Labor Committee hearing on Nov. 27. At the
hearing, supporters argued the bill would stop compensating illegal
workers who aren’t supposed to be in Ohio to begin with. But opponents
argue that the details in the bill add too many extra problems.

In fact, the bill might be going after a problem that
doesn’t even exist. At an earlier hearing, Seitz, a Republican, said the state does not
collect data on the immigration status of workers receiving
compensation. To Brian Hoffman of Innovation Ohio, this means there’s no
way to know if the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) has ever
compensated a single undocumented worker. “It just seems curious that
this bill is being introduced and has gotten three hearings when there’s
no proof that it’s actually even an issue,” he says.

Hoffman is also worried that the bill is imposing a new
regulatory burden on BWC without providing additional funds. In his
view, the state agency is essentially being told to do more without
additional resources to prepare or train regulators. Considering how
complicated the immigration issue can get, this makes Hoffman doubt the
agency will be able to properly carry out the new regulations.

From a broader perspective, the bill imposes regulatory hurdles on all injured workers just so they can get compensation they're entitled to under state law. “Talk about kicking someone when they’re down,” Hoffman says.

But the burden could hit Hispanics even harder and lead to
more discrimination in the workplace. After all, when employers are
clearing legal statuses, who are they more likely to question, someone with a
name like “Dexter Morgan” or someone with a name like “Angel Batista”?

In Hoffman’s view, the state should leave immigration
issues to the federal government and worry about more pressing issues:
“Why is the state legislature even wasting its time on the issue? There
are plenty of really good ideas to bring jobs back to Ohio. Why aren’t
they focused on those?”

The bill is still in committee, but it’s been the subject
of multiple hearings. It’s unlikely the Ohio Senate will take it up in
what’s left of the lame-duck session, but it could come back in the next
year.

CityBeat was unable to reach Seitz for comment
despite repeated attempts through phone and email, in addition to a scheduled
interview that was canceled. This story will be updated if comment becomes available.

The Kentucky Speedway and state of Kentucky will find out
soon whether the $10 million they spent on highway infrastructure
improvements in response to last year’s traffic mess at a NASCAR race
was worth it. The Speedway and Kentucky Transportation Cabinet will hold
a news conference today to outline plans to actually get all of the
race attendees into the venue to watch the race rather than sit in
traffic all day and get super mad.

A Cincinnati police officer with a long record of wrecking
police vehicles was arrested on Monday and charged with assaulting a
woman who he’s already been charged with assaulting once before. The
Enquirer detailed the disciplinary history of officer Kevin Jones, who was also charged with two counts of assault from an incident that occurred May 19.

Politico says President Obama’s recent announcement of a
new immigration policy that allows many young immigrants who have never
been in trouble with the law to stay in the country, and even travel
across its borders, was a really smart move. The policy is not permanent, which leaves Mitt
Romney to answer the question of whether or not he would repeal it if
elected. The idea is reportedly similar to legislation that Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a potential Romney running mate, has been considering introducing.

“This is a stroke of political genius,” Bruce Morrison
told me. A former Democratic congressman from Connecticut, Morrison was
chairman of the House Immigration Subcommittee, a member of the U.S.
Commission on Immigration Reform and House author of the Immigration Act
of 1990. He’s now an immigration attorney and lobbies on a wide variety
of immigration issues.

“Obama has taken Rubio’s idea and put it into action,”
Morrison said. “He has given these people a work permit, the ability to
remain in this country, but no permanent status.” Their legal status can
be terminated at any time. “But it won’t be terminated by Obama,”
Morrison said.

A breast cancer survivor who has undergone a double
mastectomy has been allowed to swim topless by the Seattle Department of
Parks and Recreation after stating that wearing a bathing suit over her
chest causes pain.

(Jodi) Jaecks opted against reconstructive surgery. "I don't see a need to fake having breasts," she said.

"My ultimate goal is to change policy at beaches and
pools, to increase people's awareness of cancer and the realities of the
human condition," Jaecks told Reuters.

LeBron James and the Miami Heat won the NBA title last
night, completing a 4 games to 1 series victory over the Oklahoma
Thunder. It is the first title for James, who has been widely mocked for
stating that he’d like to win more titles than Michael Jordan’s six.
James, who is 27, won his first a year younger than Jordan did, thought Jordan then won the title in six of eight years.

Two alien plants planets around the same star apparently rise in
the night sky of each other, looking like a giant full moon. The
planets, Kepler-36b and Kepler-36c, are 1,200 light-years from Earth and 1.2 million miles apart, the closes two planets known.